THE
INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE PROVIDES HELPFUL AND ACCURATE TAX LAW ASSISTANCE, BUT
TAXPAYERS EXPERIENCE LENGTHY WAIT TIMES TO SPEAK WITH ASSISTORS

Issued on July 22, 2011

Highlights

Highlights of Reference Number: 2011-40-070
to the Internal Revenue Service Commissioner for the Wage and Investment
Division.

IMPACT ON TAXPAYERS

An important part of the Internal Revenue Serviceís
(IRS) mission is to help taxpayers understand and meet their tax obligations.† The IRS offers taxpayers several service
options to obtain tax assistance, including face‑to-face; the IRSís
public Internet site, IRS.gov; or telephone.†
Auditors posed as taxpayers and tested a variety of these service
options to obtain answers to tax law questions, assess the ease of obtaining
answers and the accuracy of the answers provided, and assess the quality of
services received from a taxpayerís point of view.† Providing quality customer service is the
first step toward assisting taxpayers to understand and meet their tax
responsibilities.

WHY TIGTA DID THE AUDIT

This audit was
initiated to determine the quality of customer
service the IRS provides taxpayers who seek assistance with understanding
the tax laws and preparing their tax returns.†
This is a follow-up review to a prior TIGTA report.

WHAT TIGTA FOUND

The overall experiences of auditors who
posed as taxpayers to obtain answers to tax law questions from the Toll-Free
telephone assistance lines, IRS.gov, and Taxpayer Assistance Centers were
generally positive.† Auditors received
accurate responses to all tax law questions.†
Auditors were also able to accurately prepare tax returns using the
various IRS sources, including the Free File Program. †A review of a sample of contact recordings of
tax return preparation assistance provided at Taxpayer Assistance Centers
nationwide showed that assistors accurately prepared tax returns.

However, taxpayers are experiencing long wait times at Taxpayer Assistance
Centers and on the telephones.† At
Taxpayer Assistance Centers, our auditors waited an average of one hour to
receive assistance and in some cases were turned away and told to return
another day to obtain services.† In addition, Taxpayer
Assistance Centers do not always allow qualified taxpayers to schedule
appointments and do not consistently apply new taxpayer screening guidelines
and procedures.

WHAT TIGTA RECOMMENDED

TIGTA recommended that
the Commissioner, Wage and Investment Division, reinforce existing controls to
ensure Taxpayer Assistance Center managers appropriately schedule appointments
requested by taxpayers who have an ongoing, complex tax account problem or a
special need, such as a disability.† The
IRS should also add information on IRS.gov and Taxpayer Assistance Centersí
telephone recordings to inform taxpayers they may be asked to provide
identification and Social Security Numbers to receive assistance.

In their response to the report, IRS
officials agreed with both recommendations.† Management plans to issue additional
instructions to Taxpayer Assistance Center managers relating to scheduling
appointments.† The IRS also plans to
update IRS.gov and Taxpayer Assistance Centersí telephone recordings to include
a statement advising taxpayers they may be asked to provide valid photo
identification and a Taxpayer Identification Number, such as a Social Security
Number, to receive services.

READ THE
FULL REPORT

To view the report,
including the scope, methodology, and full IRS response, go
to:†